Civil servants, pupils, students, seafarers, doctors and public transport workers – in Greece, people went on strike across the country today. The strikes caused traffic slowdowns, mainly in the big cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, and later also clashes between the autonomous community and the police.
Despite the traffic jams and the lack of public transport, thousands of people made the pilgrimage to the big rallies. They were protesting the state failure of Greek railways, which they believe led to the serious train accident in which 57 people died last week.
“You kill for profit” and similar slogans were written on posters and banners as people took to the streets in the capital Athens. Many opposed the partial privatization of Greek railways several years ago. The trade unions called a protest against this failure and demanded a comprehensive clarification of the events.